Can opener



July 13, 1926.

W. H. NORDHAUS CAN OPENER Filed Sept. 11. 1925 if Q fife/Q 57 adapted to travel bodily into and Patented July 13, 1926?.

omrno stares WILLIAM H. nonnHAUs, or nrvnn ronnsr, ILLINOIS. 1

I can ornn'nn.

Application filed September 11, 1925.. Serial No. 55,667.

This invention relates to can openers, having reference more particularly to portable can openers of' the type designed to operate on cans having upstanding annular rims or beads on one or both ends thereof, and employing a pair of rim-gripping wheels, one of which is, toothed or knurled to effectively bite into the inner side of the rim or head and feed the latter through the cutter, and a rotary cutter disc fast with relation to the other rim-gripping wheel that cuts through the body of the can just below the plane of the end closure completely shearing 0E the head of the can; the knurled or toothed wheel being provided with a" manually operated shaft rotating the same, and the rim or bead traveling between the gripping wheels and cutter as the shaft is turned.

In the practical use of can openers of this type it has been found that a dificulty in the smooth manipulation of the tool sometimes arises due to the rim-gripping wheels encountering a thickened portion of the wall of the can, such as a longitudinal seam, or a lump of solder, or similar obstruction, which will not readily pass between the rimgripping wheels, and thus blocks the action of the cutter disc. One object of my present invention is to overcome this fault in tools of this character, and this I accomplish by mounting one of the rim-gripping wheels, preferably that which is fast and rotates with the cutter, in such a manner that it can yield laterally against elastic pressure, sufliciently to allow the thickened portion or other obstruction in the can wall to pass between the rim-gripping wheels.

Another improvement included in my present invention relates to cutters of a type shown in Letters Patent No. 1,562,580 granted to me on the 24th day of November, 1925, wherein one end of the handle bar is formed with av transverse slot in which the operating shaft of the feed wheel is working relation to the cutter disc. I have found that the combined rotary and bodily travel of said shaft through said slot in direct engagement with the walls of the latter, aswell as the working rotation of the shaft in one end of the slot, in time wears the latter and diminishes the grip of the wheels on the rim of the can. With a view to eliminatingthis defect, I incorporate a wear sleeve or bushing between the shaft or bar itself.

out of hub of the feed wheel in,which the shaft is secured and the marginal walls of the slot, making the same of 'a metal better adapted to resist wear than the metal of the handle In order that my present invention may be clearly understood by persons skilled in the art I have, in the accompanying drawings, illustrated simple and practical embodiments of the improved features above referred to in connection with the can opener forming the subject-matter of my aforesaid application; but it is to be understood that the said improvements are not limited in their application to the specific form and structure of tool disclosed in the said applicaiion.

Referring to the drawings- Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the can opener shown applied in open position to the rim of acan;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the tool in cutting engagement with the rim;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2, showing the rimengaging parts in normal working position Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing the outer rim-gripping wheel and cutter disc slightly displaced laterally under spring resistance to pass a thickened portion or obstruction in the rim; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawing, 10 designate as an entirety a flat metal bar, approximately one longitudinal half of which is shaped to form a handle 10'. The other longitudinal half of the bar carries the can-engaging parts, comprising a pair of rim gripping wheels, a rotary cutter fast with one of said wheels, a manually operated shaft for bringing the gripping wheels into engagement with the rim of the can and rotating the rim between the wheels during the cutting operation, a spring-pressed laterally .yieldable mount-mg or bearing for one of said rimgripping wheels, and a gear mechanism for effecting thebodily movement of the shaft to bring the wheels and cutter into cooperating engagement with the can.

The bar 10 is formed at one end thereof with a transverse slot 11 extending approximately the full width of the bar; this slot being preferably slightly arcuate in form, although it may be a straight slot. ,Lying within the slot 11 and slidably fitting the longitudinal walls thereof is a wear sleeve or bushing 12 of harder metal than the bar 10, the same being preferably formed on its lower end with an annular flange 12' spanning the lower side. of the slot. Rotatable within the wear sleeve 12 is the reduced hub 13 of a ratchet toothed feed wheel 13. The feed wheel 13 and its hub 13 are formed with a tapped bore that receives the threaded end 14 of a shaft 15. This shaft is formed with an annular shoulder 16 that overlies and spans the slot 11 and is drawn by the threaded end 14 of the shaft into a tight bearing with the upper end of the reduced hub 13 of the feed wheel 13 and the wear sleeve 12. At the junction of the wheel 13 and its hub 13' is an annular shoulder 17 which bears against the lower end of the wear sleeve 12 and its flange 12', and, in co-operation with the shoulder 16, maintaining the feed wheel 13 rigid against lateral yielding. A cross bar or handle 18 mounted on the upper end of the shaft 15 forms a convenient thumb and f nger hold for rotating the shaft and the feed wheel 13.

Opposite the inner side of the slot 11 is mounted in the handlebar 10 a fixed stud 19 rigidly secured in place by a nut 20 and an annular shoulder 21 engaging the lower surface of the handle bar. This stud is provided with a wide circular head 22 preferably formed with a screw-driver kerf 23 to facilitate application and removal of the stud. Encircling and slidable on the stud 19 is a cam 24 in the form of a frustum of a cone, which cam is normally springpressed upwardly or inwardly toward the handle bar by a circular serpentine spring washer 25 confined between the lower end of the cone and the head 22 of the stud.

Encircling and fitting the cone cam 24: is an abutment wheel 26 that co-operates with the feed wheel 13 in gripping and feeding the rim of the can; and integral or otherwise fast with the abutment wheel 26 is a cutter disc 27. It will be observed that the narrow upper end or the bore of the abutment wheel 26 is of slightly greater diameter than the diameter of the stud 19, which allows a slight lateral play of the wheel 26 and cutter 27 in a direction away from the feed wheel 13 when permitted by the outward or downward movement of the cone 2%.

In the periphery of the annular shoulder 16 is a radial notch 28, with which co-operates a pin or tooth 29 mounted in the upper side of the bar 10. This pin or tooth 29 is disposed relatively to the working an d idle positions of the feed wheel 13 that. as the handle 21 is turned clockwise, viewing Fig. 1. to shift the feed wheel from idle to working position, one side wall of the notch 28,

cutter, as shown in Fig. 2, the notch 28 becomes wholly disengaged from the pin 29, and the shaft and feed wheel may be readily turned during the rim-cutting operation. After the can top has been severed, by turning the handle 18 in the reverse direction the feed wheel starts to travel backwardly toward theopposite end of the slot 15 under frictional grip on the severed rim until the notch 28 is re-engagcd with the pin 29,

v hereupon through engagement of the other side wall of the notch with the other side of the pin, the feed wheel and shaft are positi ely retracted by the reverse turning movement, and the severed head and rim of the can readily drop from between the feed and cutter wheels.

In the event that the rim feeding wheels 13, 26 encounter a thickened portion of the rim, or the cutter disc 27 encounters an unyielding portion of the can body, the abnormal pressure thereby created is exerted laterally against the abutment wheel 26 and cutter 27 and, through the latter, to the cone 24,- and, due to the cam surfaces between said parts, oblique to the direction of thrust,

the cone 24 slides outwardly against the resistance of the spring 25, as clearlyshown in Fi 4, which permits the abutment wheel and cutter disc to yield sufliciently to pass the obstruction. As soon as the obstruction is passed, the reaction of the spring 25 at once restores the parts to the normal working position shown in Fig. 3.

The last described device manifestly obviates the danger of springing or breaking the bearing stud of the cutter disc, as well as facilitating the smooth and continuous operation of the cutter.

I While I have herein shown the outer rimgripp-ing wheel and cutter laterally yieldahle. it is manifest that. within the purview of the invention, the feed wheel 13 might be similarly mounted for lateral yielding. And, while I have herein shown one practical and workable embodiment of this feature of my invention which has been found to satisfactorily effectuate the stated purpose or ohiect thereof, it is manifest that other equall effective embodiments of this principle m ght be employed to equal advantage. Hence. I do not limit the invention to the particular embodiment thereof herein disc osed. but reserve such variations, modifications, and mechanicalv equivalents as fall within the spirit and purview of the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. In acanopener of the type described, the Combination of a handle bar, feed and cutter wheels rotatably mounted in one end portion of said handle bar, one of said wheels being bodily shiftable toward and from the other into and out of rim-gripping position, manually operable means for rotating said shiftable wheel, gearing on said manually operable means and said handle bar efl'ecting bodily travel of said shiftable wheel, a bearing forvone of said wheels yieldable relatively to said handle bar permitting a lateral separating move ment of said wheel from the other wheel during the cutting operation, and a spring movement thereof from said feed wheel during the cutting operation, a cutter disc fast with said abutment wheel, a spring opposing said separating movement, and gearing on said shaft and handle bar effecting bodily travel of said feed wheel toward and from' said abutment wheel through a turning movement of said shaft.

3. In a can opener of the combinationof'a handle bar, a stud mount-ed therein, a conical bearing member slidable endwise on said stud, an abutment wheel having a coniral bore fitting said conical bearing member,'a feed wheel mounted in said handle bar cq-operating with said abutment wheel to grip and feed the rim of a can between said wheels, a cutter disc fast with said abutment wheel, and asprin opposing sliding movement of said conic the type described,

bearin .member under lateral thrust on said a utment wheel.

. 4. A specific embodiment of claim 3 wherein said stud is formed with a head, and said spring is a compression spring confined between the head of said "stud and the wide end of said conical bearing 'member. i

- WILLIAM H. NORDHAUS. 

